Tennis: Doubles winner Bhupathi ripe for Davis Cup

By TERRY MADDAFORD


Mahesh Bhupathi quickly quashed any suggestion he and his Indian team-mates will be on the back foot when they turn up in Invercargill for next month's Davis Cup tie.

Speaking minutes after he and new partner, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, had come back from a set down to beat Czechs Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek in the Heineken Open doubles final on Saturday, Bhupathi said the Indians were looking forward to the world's southernmost tie.

Will Leander Paes, sidelined for some time last year following the diagnosis of a non-malignant brain tumour, make the trip?

"Count on it," Bhupathi said. "We are looking forward to it. We all want to play in the Davis Cup."

Just as he and Santoro turned up to play in Saturday's final.

Most of the crowd stayed for the doubles final and were treated to another three-set thriller where the players again showed how exciting doubles could be.

The unseeded Czechs dominated the first set, breaking Bhupathi in the fifth game and Santoro two games later. Novak dropped his serve in the eighth, but Stepanek held in the 10th for 6-4.

When they raced to 5-3 in the second, the faithful looked towards the exits. But the top-seeded scratch pairing, highly ranked in their own right, had other ideas.

Santoro held for 4-5 and they then broke Novak.

Bhupathi held for 6-5 and continued the rally by breaking Stepanek for the set.

The third set was a more regulation affair. Just one break - the normally composed but at times unusually tetchy Novak in the second game - en route to a 6-3 set win in 28 minutes.

"It was a big comeback," said Bhupathi, who was playing here for the second time.

"We made a lot of returns. While it was the first time we have played together there is a chance we will team up again."

Santoro, one of a short list of players to be seeded in the top 20 in the singles and doubles, and clutching the trophy he promised his 2 1/2-year-old daughter Djenae he would bring home for her, said: "You don't know if a new pairing is going to work. We got better as the week went on."

After first contemplating playing the Open about a month ago, they confirmed their intention 10 days ago and left for Australia yesterday a few dollars and ATP ranking points richer, and ready to team up with their regular partners at the Australian Open.